Tickets for next year's Glastonbury festival will go on sale this October. Following on from the success of last year's "early bird" option, organisers of the UK's biggest music festival are keen to give punters the chance to get their hands on tickets as soon as possible.

Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the festival and founder Michael Eavis has already hinted that the lineup is set to include a band from each year the event has been running. But, as always, details of who will perform at the festival remain firmly under wraps.

The 74-year-old farmer said: "Now I'm fully confident the anniversary lineup will be just that little bit special when it is revealed next year. We want as many people as possible to be part of the celebrations and to enjoy what we do here."

Eavis has also defended the rise in ticket price, which will now cost £185, plus £5 booking fee, saying: "I do try and hold it down, but the girls doing the budgeting are so thorough and so clever, and they said, 'Look, the minimum rise we can get away with is 10 quid more'. It is a shame, because I really wanted to hold the price."

Anyone hoping to get a ticket to the 2010 festival will have to apply via the self-registration form at least 48 hours before tickets go on sale. As was the case last year, a deposit option of £50 is also being made available. Anyone wishing to relinquish their ticket will have the deposit returned, providing they do so by 28 February 2010.

Eavis says: "We have the fairest ticketing operation available anywhere. With this scheme, backed by the all-important registration process, everyone has an equal chance of getting a ticket. And most importantly, every ticket will only be going to a genuine festival-goer direct."

Tickets go on sale at 9am on Sunday 4 October 2009. Application details can be found at the festival's website, where you can also register. Glastonbury festival 2010 will run from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 June.